The Ferengi: Better as comic relief or villains?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by The Overlord, Jan 27, 2013.

  1. The Overlord

    The Overlord Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    What were the Ferengi better as, comic relief or villains
     
  2. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

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    Ferengi as villains? Hah ha! That's a good one. ;)
     
  3. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    With the Ferengi, "comic relief" and "villains" were never mutually exclusive.
     
  4. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    They were better as a very interesting race whose values gave the Federation the finger without that finger being all about bloodshed.
     
  5. Captain Nebula

    Captain Nebula Commander Red Shirt

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    The Ferengi on DS9 were hilarious. They were one of the best parts of the show.

    "Then the Andorian says... 'That's not my antenna.'"

    ;)

    On TNG, they were sort of a replacement for the Orions from The Original Series. Not the scariest villains, tho.
     
  6. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    And the correct answer is: which ever one turns up the most profit for them. ;)
     
  7. sonak

    sonak Vice Admiral Admiral

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    comic relief


    they're too broad of a caricature to really be effective villains, and they don't really care about conquest, which makes them less scary as adversaries-they don't want to defeat you, they want to swindle you.
     
  8. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    Honestly, they're better off being completely forgotten.
     
  9. Anji

    Anji Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    They were created as comic relief and are brilliant when used in that capacity. If I'd ever get the chance to guest star I'd love for them to make me a Ferengi!
     
  10. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    They weren't created as comic relief, they were suppose to be the replacement for Klingons/Romulans and failed in spectacular fashion.
     
  11. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    They clearly worked better as comic relief, though I think it is possible to make them villains that work. They'd just have to be villains in a different mold than the Klingon/Romulan replacement they were originally imagined as.

    Think about it, the Ferengi are basically corporate CEOs. That's some pretty scary shit right there.
     
  12. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    No reason why they can't be both.

    In episodes like "Peak Performance" (TNG) they seemed menacing enough.
     
  13. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    The problem is that they started jumping around like monkeys when they first appeared.

    The shitty writing of TNG S1 doomed them as villains from the start.
     
  14. plynch

    plynch Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Hopping monkeys making a sleestak noise, with energy whips, iirc. Ridiculous. The best enemies are the cool ones: Kor the Klingon or Gul Dukat.
     
  15. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    No, they weren't. From http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Ferengi#Background:

    ---

    Yeah. Personally, I agree with both of these points.

    Some of the DS9 comedy involving the Ferengi was truly funny; I found a lot of Rom's lines hilarious. But some of those episodes were monumental bores.
     
  16. The Overlord

    The Overlord Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    The problem is the Ferengi in "The Last Outpost" came off as a generic warrior race rather then a collection of slick corporate moguls. From the get go, they should have been more like Lex Luthor and less like jumping monkeys.
     
    Last edited: Jan 28, 2013
  17. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Armin Shimerman blames the monkey business on "The Last Outpost"'s director. I have to wonder if the actors' auditions were based on that, or if the director suddenly got that idea on the set. Moreso, why didn't anyone fire him after seeing the dailies?

    The serious viewscreen face to face scenes differed immensely with what we saw on the surface.

    I thought the power whips were pretty cool though, definitely a different weapon than the usual raygun, but apparently the prop never worked right.
     
  18. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Browsing through that Memory Alpha article somebody posted above, it seems to me that several factors conspired to weaken the Ferengi from the very start. I mean, Michael Westmore talks about how he softened up the original visual conception into what we eventually got, removing any sense of menace from their original 'look' in the process. That can't have helped. :(

    That said, they are effective villains in at least a few episodes (noteably "The Battle" and "Peak Performance", although the former does have a few residual moments of the comedic florishes from "The Last Outpost").

    On the other other hand, we have "Rascals". Maybe I'd believe in a bunch of Ferengi taking over the Enterprise if it had happened in Season One, but by the time that episode was filmed the Ferengi had descended completely to joke status. Which is IIRC the reason they were chosen as villains of the episode at all (the writers felt they were the only threat that could be believably stopped by children).
     
  19. Lucky

    Lucky Captain Captain

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    I preferred them as comic relief.
     
  20. Sector 7

    Sector 7 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    So true. It is no secret that I've never been a DS9 fan, but my 2 favorite exceptions are "Little Green Men" and "Trials and Tribble-ations". Ferengi work best as comic relief AND villains. As for their original appearance, it is best forgotten.:techman: